2008 CADILLAC DTS airbag
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If your vehicle has roof-rail airbags for the driver, right
front passenger, and second row outboard passengers,
they are in the ceiling above the side windows.
{CAUTION:
If something is between an occupant and an
airbag, the airbag might not in ate properly or
it might force the object into that person
causing severe injury or even death. The path
of an in ating airbag must be kept clear. Do
not put anything between an occupant and an
airbag, and do not attach or put anything on
the steering wheel hub or on or near any other
airbag covering.
Do not use seat accessories that block the
in ation path of a seat-mounted side impact
airbag.
Never secure anything to the roof of a vehicle
with roof-rail airbags by routing a rope or tie
down through any door or window opening. If
you do, the path of an in ating roof-rail airbag
will be blocked. Driver Side shown, Passenger Side similar
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When Should an Airbag In ate?
Frontal airbags are designed to in ate in moderate to
severe frontal or near-frontal crashes to help reduce the
potential for severe injuries mainly to the driver’s or
right front passenger’s head and chest. However, they
are only designed to in ate if the impact exceeds a
predetermined deployment threshold. Deployment
thresholds are used to predict how severe a crash is
likely to be in time for the airbags to in ate and
help restrain the occupants.
Whether your frontal airbags will or should deploy is not
based on how fast your vehicle is traveling. It depends
largely on what you hit, the direction of the impact,
and how quickly your vehicle slows down.
Frontal airbags may in ate at different crash speeds.
For example:
If the vehicle hits a stationary object, the airbags
could in ate at a different crash speed than if the
vehicle hits a moving object.
If the vehicle hits an object that deforms, the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed than
if the vehicle hits an object that does not deform.
If the vehicle hits a narrow object (like a pole), the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle hits a wide object (like a wall).
If the vehicle goes into an object at an angle, the
airbags could in ate at a different crash speed
than if the vehicle goes straight into the object.
Thresholds can also vary with speci c vehicle design.
Frontal airbags are not intended to in ate during vehicle
rollovers, rear impacts, or in many side impacts.
Your vehicle has a seat position sensor which enables
the sensing system to monitor the position of the right
front passenger’s seat. The passenger seat position
sensor and passenger safety belt buckle switch provide
information that is used to determine if the airbags should
deploy at a reduced level or at full deployment.
In addition, your vehicle has a dual-stage driver airbag.
Dual-stage airbags adjust the restraint according to
crash severity. Your vehicle has electronic frontal
sensors, which help the sensing system distinguish
between a moderate frontal impact and a more severe
frontal impact. For moderate frontal impacts, dual-stage
airbags in ate at a level less than full deployment.
For more severe frontal impacts, full deployment occurs.
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Your vehicle also has a dual-depth passenger airbag
that adjusts the restraint according to crash severity,
seat location, and safety belt status using electronic
frontal sensor(s) and other special sensors which enable
the sensing system to monitor the position of the front
passenger seat. The passenger airbag in ates to a
reduced depth when the passenger seat is in a forward
position. For more rearward front seating positions,
the passenger airbag may in ate to an increased depth
(a full deployment), based on safety belt status and
the crash severity measured early in the event. (Always
wear your safety belt, even with frontal airbags.)
Your vehicle has seat-mounted side impact airbags.
Your vehicle may have roof-rail airbags. SeeAirbag
System on page 1-53. Seat-mounted side impact and
roof-rail airbags are intended to in ate in moderate
to severe side crashes. Seat-mounted side impact and
roof-rail airbags will in ate if the crash severity is
above the system’s designed threshold level. The
threshold level can vary with speci c vehicle design.Seat-mounted side impact and roof-rail airbags are not
intended to in ate in frontal impacts, near-frontal
impacts, rollovers, or rear impacts. A seat-mounted side
impact airbag is intended to deploy on the side of the
vehicle that is struck. Both roof-rail airbags will
deploy when either side of the vehicle is struck.
In any particular crash, no one can say whether an
airbag should have in ated simply because of the
damage to a vehicle or because of what the repair costs
were. For frontal airbags, in ation is determined by
what the vehicle hits, the angle of the impact, and how
quickly the vehicle slows down. For seat-mounted
side impact and roof-rail airbags, deployment is
determined by the location and severity of the side
impact.
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What Makes an Airbag In ate?
In a deployment event, the sensing system sends an
electrical signal triggering a release of gas from
the in ator. Gas from the in ator lls the airbag causing
the bag to break out of the cover and deploy. The
in ator, the airbag, and related hardware are all part of
the airbag module.
Frontal airbag modules are located inside the steering
wheel and instrument panel. For vehicles with
seat-mounted side impact airbags, there are airbag
modules in the side of the front seatbacks closest to the
door. For vehicles with roof-rail airbags, there are
airbag modules in the ceiling of the vehicle, near the
side windows that have occupant seating positions.
How Does an Airbag Restrain?
In moderate to severe frontal or near frontal collisions,
even belted occupants can contact the steering wheel or
the instrument panel. In moderate to severe side
collisions, even belted occupants can contact the inside
of the vehicle.
Airbags supplement the protection provided by safety
belts. Frontal airbags distribute the force of the impact
more evenly over the occupant’s upper body, stopping
the occupant more gradually. Seat-mounted side impact
and roof-rail airbags distribute the force of the impact
more evenly over the occupant’s upper body.
But airbags would not help in many types of collisions,
primarily because the occupant’s motion is not
toward those airbags. SeeWhen Should an Airbag
Inflate? on page 1-59for more information.
Airbags should never be regarded as anything more
than a supplement to safety belts.
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What Will You See After an Airbag
In ates?
After the frontal airbags and seat-mounted side impact
airbags in ate, they quickly de ate, so quickly that
some people may not even realize an airbag in ated.
Roof-rail airbags may still be at least partially in ated for
some time after they deploy. Some components of
the airbag module may be hot for several minutes. For
location of the airbag modules, seeWhat Makes an
Airbag Inflate? on page 1-61.
The parts of the airbag that come into contact with you
may be warm, but not too hot to touch. There may
be some smoke and dust coming from the vents in the
de ated airbags. Airbag in ation does not prevent
the driver from seeing out of the windshield or being
able to steer the vehicle, nor does it prevent people from
leaving the vehicle.
{CAUTION:
When an airbag in ates, there may be dust in
the air. This dust could cause breathing
problems for people with a history of asthma
or other breathing trouble. To avoid this,
everyone in the vehicle should get out as soon
as it is safe to do so. If you have breathing
problems but cannot get out of the vehicle
after an airbag in ates, then get fresh air by
opening a window or a door. If you experience
breathing problems following an airbag
deployment, you should seek medical
attention.
The vehicle has a feature that may automatically unlock
the doors, turn the interior lamps on, and turn the
hazard warning ashers on when the airbags in ate.
You can lock the doors, turn the interior lamps off, and
turn the hazard warning ashers off by using the
controls for those features.
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In many crashes severe enough to in ate the airbag,
windshields are broken by vehicle deformation.
Additional windshield breakage may also occur from the
right front passenger airbag.
Airbags are designed to in ate only once. After an
airbag in ates, you will need some new parts for
the airbag system. If you do not get them, the airbag
system will not be there to help protect you in
another crash. A new system will include airbag
modules and possibly other parts. The service
manual for your vehicle covers the need to replace
other parts.
The vehicle has a crash sensing and diagnostic
module which records information after a crash.
SeeVehicle Data Recording and Privacy on
page 7-18andEvent Data Recorders on page 7-18.
Let only quali ed technicians work on the airbag
systems. Improper service can mean that an
airbag system will not work properly. See your
dealer/retailer for service.
Passenger Sensing System
Your vehicle has a passenger sensing system for the
right front passenger’s position. The passenger
airbag status indicator will be visible on the overhead
console when you start your vehicle.
The words ON and OFF, or the symbol for on and off,
will be visible during the system check. If you are
using remote start to start your vehicle from a distance,
if equipped, you may not see the system check.
When the system check is complete, either the word
ON or the word OFF, or the symbol for on or the symbol
for off, will be visible. SeePassenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 3-58.
The passenger sensing system will turn off the right
front passenger’s frontal airbag and seat-mounted side
impact airbag under certain conditions. The driver’s
airbags are not part of the passenger sensing system.United States
Canada
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The passenger sensing system works with sensors that
are part of the right front passenger’s seat and safety belt.
The sensors are designed to detect the presence of a
properly-seated occupant and determine if the right front
passenger’s frontal airbag and seat-mounted side impact
airbag should be enabled (may in ate) or not.
Accident statistics show that children are safer if they
are restrained in the rear rather than the front seat.
We recommend that children be secured in a rear seat,
including: an infant or a child riding in a rear-facing
child restraint; a child riding in a forward-facing child
seat; an older child riding in a booster seat; and children,
who are large enough, using safety belts.
A label on your sun visor says, “Never put a rear-facing
child seat in the front.” This is because the risk to the
rear-facing child is so great, if the airbag deploys.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint can be
seriously injured or killed if the right front
passenger’s airbag in ates. This is because
the back of the rear-facing child restraint
would be very close to the in ating airbag.
Even though the passenger sensing system is
designed to turn off the right front passenger’s
frontal and seat-mounted side impact airbag if
the system detects a rear-facing child restraint,
no system is fail-safe, and no one can guarantee
that an airbag will not deploy under some
unusual circumstance, even though it is turned
off. We recommend that rear-facing child
restraints be secured in a rear seat, even if the
airbags are off.
If you secure a forward-facing child restraint in
the right front seat, always move the front
passenger seat as far back as it will go. It is
better to secure the child restraint in a rear seat.
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The passenger sensing system is designed to turn off
the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag if:
The right front passenger seat is unoccupied.
The system determines that an infant is present in
a rear-facing infant seat.
The system determines that a small child is present
in a child restraint.
The system determines that a small child is present
in a booster seat.
A right front passenger takes his/her weight off of
the seat for a period of time.
The right front passenger seat is occupied by a
smaller person, such as a child who has outgrown
child restraints.
Or, if there is a critical problem with the airbag
system or the passenger sensing system.
When the passenger sensing system has turned off the
right front passenger’s frontal airbag and seat-mounted
side impact airbag, the off indicator will light and stay lit to
remind you that the airbags are off. SeePassenger
Airbag Status Indicator on page 3-58.
If a child restraint has been installed and the on indicator
is lit, turn the vehicle off. Remove the child restraint from
the vehicle and reinstall the child restraint following thechild restraint manufacturer’s directions and refer to
Securing a Child Restraint in the Right Front Seat
Position on page 1-50.
If, after reinstalling the child restraint and restarting the
vehicle, the on indicator is still lit, check to make sure that
the vehicle’s seatback is not pressing the child restraint
into the seat cushion. If this happens, slightly recline the
vehicle’s seatback and adjust the seat cushion if
possible. Also make sure the child restraint is not trapped
under the vehicle head restraint. If this happens, adjust
the head restraint. SeeHead Restraints on page 1-7.
Remove any additional material from the seat such as
blankets, cushions, seat covers, seat heaters, or seat
massagers before reinstalling or securing the child
restraint.
If the on indicator is still lit, secure the child in the child
restraint in a rear seat position in the vehicle, and
check with your dealer/retailer.
The passenger sensing system is designed to enable
(may in ate) the right front passenger’s frontal airbag and
seat-mounted side impact airbag anytime the system
senses that a person of adult size is sitting properly in the
right front passenger’s seat. When the passenger
sensing system has allowed the airbags to be enabled,
the on indicator will light and stay lit to remind you that the
airbags are active.
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